Continuous juice pasteurizer



4 Dec. 28, 1943. Q KE 'R 2,33 ,040

CONTINUOUS JUICE PASTEURIZER Filed March '5, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 |O1 1 y N Q Lg QM: Q INVENTOQ-I ATTORNEY Dec. 28, 1943.

C. E. KERR CONTINUOUS JUICE PASTEURIZE R 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 5, 1941 l/vl/Elvroe: mews E. K522 :55: hf lhlllllflllllllll Patented Dec. 28, 1943 ITE STATE s VFPATENTY oFFicei' CONTINUOUS JUICE PASTEURIZEB. Charles E. Kerr, Hoopeston, 111., assignor to Food poration of Delaware Machinery Corporation, San Jose, Calif., a cor- Application March 3, 1941, Serial No. 381,491

10 Claims. (Cl. 257-240),

This invention relates to the art of heat exchangers and has particular utility in the pasteurizing of fruit and vegetablejuices.

It is an object of this invention to provide a] novel pasteurizer having a high heat exchange andeconomical mode ofassembly and disassembly to permit the same to be quickly inspected and cleaned or repaired.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a heat exchanger in which access to a system of tubes embodied therewith'for the purpose 'of cleaning or repairing these may bereadily had with .arelatively short shut-down in the operation of the device. v "The manner of accomplishing the foregoing objects, as well as further objects and advantages, will be made manifest in the following dedrawings; in which:

I having side walls 16, a top wall l1, and a bottom scription taken in connection with the following Fig. 1 is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic side elevational view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an. enlarged longitudinal vertical sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3. h

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail cross-sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal detailed sectional view taken on the line 8-4 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective detail view illustrating the end plate at the head end of the device opened up to show the construction.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary perspective detail view illustrating a tube'connecting cap at the tail end of the machin with said cap removed to illustrate the construction.

Referring specifically to the drawings, and particularly to Fig. 2, the pasteurizer ill of the invention is seen to include a heat exchanger Ill and a heating liquid circulating and temperature control system [2.

The heat exchanger ll includes a shell 15 wall It; The side walls ii are reinforced'by clamps l 9 which press inwardly on these walls for a purpose to be made clear hereinaften' Theshell l5, when the heat exchanger H is disassembled, is open at its opposite ends and is provided as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 with perimetric angle irons and 2| at its front and rear ends respectively, these angle irons providing flanges 22 II and 23, outer faces of {which are flush with the open ends of the shell l5.

Fitting against and removably secured to the flange 22 is a front end plate 26. Welded into suitable apertures formed in the end plate 26 is a series of juice conveyingtubes 21, the uppermost and lowermost of these tubes being cylindrical in form where they are thus connected to the plate 26. The upper and lower tubes, except where so connected, have a flattened cross section, and the remainder of the tubes 21 are thus flattened throughout their length. The tubes 21 are supported within the shell l5 bvlongitudinal verticalflns 30 extending upwardly andfdownwardly from horizontal floors or baifl'e plates 3l and 32 which lie interspersed between the tubes 21 and are of a width to make a snug fit with the side walls It of the shell 'I5 and berigidly held in place by the inward pressure of the clamps l9. Uppermost and lowermost baille plates 33-and 8 are also provided which lie against-the upper and lower shell walls Hand i8 respectively and also are equippedwith vertical fins till-extending downwardly and upwardly respectively therefrom.

The tubes 21 lie between the adjacent edges of the fins 30 so as to be contacted-thereby, these fins not only vertically spacing thetubes but preventingthese tubes from expanding vertically in response to internal pressure of the Juice traveling through these tubes.

In the assembly of the heat exchanger, the baffle plates 3| are located with their left ends flush with the flange '22 so that .they make a substantially fluid-tight fit with" the plate 26'when h the latter is ap lied to the flange. Right hand I ends of the baille plates 3| are thus located inwardly from the plane of the right hand ends of r the plates 33 and 34 which in turn are located inwardly a substantial distance from the outer faces of the tail end flange 23, as shown in Fig. 3.

The baliie plates 32, when assembledwith the heat exchanger H, are located with theirright hand ends flush with the tail end flange 23 and I with their left hand ends spacedfrom the front end plate 26 as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

The right hand ends of the tubes 21 nected in pairs by couplings 40 whichare disare con-.

posed substantially midway between the right hand ends of the baiile plates 3| and the rear end of the shell. Each coupling 40 includes a base plate 4! into suitable apertures of which the tubes connected thereby extend and in which they are welded to this plate. Each such coupling also has a cap 82 provided with a gasket 43 and held down by a suitable clamp mechanism 44 to form a fluid connection between the ends of the tubes 21 welded to said plate. The clamp 44 includes a pair of posts 45 provided in the plate 8|, 9. jack screw 48 having a handle 81, and a threaded cross bar 48 through which the screw 8 screws and which is adapted to be rapidly swung into or out of annular notches 49 provided in end portions of the posts 45 so as to permit the cap 82 to be quickly applied or removed in assembling or disassembling the coupling 40. Each coupling 48 rests on the baille plate 32 immediately therebelow and is slidable thereon to compensate for expansion or contraction of the tubes 21 connected therewith during the operation of the pasteurizer ill,

The front end of the heat exchanger 1 l is closed by a door or cover 50. This cover is secured in place (see Fig. 7) by eye bolts ii and wing nuts 52 engaging with cars 53 and 54 on the cover. This coverhas a series of recesses 38, each 01' which embraces a space on the front end plate 28 into which two of the tubes 21 connect and provides a relatively fluid-tight connection between the front ends of these tubes. A perimetric gasket 80 is provided in a suitable recess extending entirely around the inner face of the cover 50 and forms a fluid-tight seal preventing the escape o1 juice from between this cover and plate 38. I

The cover 50 also receives a juice inlet pipe 8| at its upper end so that when the heat exchanger is assembled this pipe connects directly with the front end of the uppermost juice tube 21. The cover 50 similarly has a juice discharge pipe 82 which connects with the front end of the lowermost juice tube 21. The discharge pipe 62 connects with a T-fltting 63 from which a pipe 84 leads the pasteurized juice from the heat exchanger l I. Mounted in this fitting is a thermostat 65, the element 86 of which extends inwardly into the cylindrical portion of the lowermost juice tube 21 as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

The rear end of the heat exchanger I l is adapted to be closed by a rear end wall, door or cover 10 which is held snugly against the flange 23 and the right hand ends of the baffle plates 32 by bolts H and wing nuts 12 mounted in the same manner as the cover 50 is similarly held in place on the front end of the heat exchanger. The cover ill has a gasket 13 which is mounted in a perimetric recess extending around the edge of the inner face of the cover.

The heating liquid circulating system l2 includes a heating liquid inlet pipe 80 which enters the heat exchanger H through the bottom I8 thereof. and a heating liquid outlet pipe 8 I which connects with the top wall I! of the shell I5, The pipe 8! discharges into a heating liquid reserve tank 82 from which a pump 83 draws liquid through a pipe 84. The exhaust end of the pump 83 is connected through a pipe 85 and a Y-fitting 86 with the pipe 88. Also, connected to the Y- fitting 86 is a steam pipe 81 having an air controlled valve 88 which is actuated through an air line 89 by a temperature controller and recorder 98. The controller 90 is in turn supplied with air through an air line H and is responsive to the thermostat 65 to which it is connected by a line 82.

Operation The pasteurizer ill of my invention is operated in the following manner:

Th pipe 6| is connected with a source of juice to be pasteurized. This may be citrus juice, tomate juice, or any other fruit or vegetable juice or other liquid which requires pasteurizing. The T-fltting 63 is connected to canning equipment or any other device to which it is desired to deliver the pasteurized juice. The flow of juice through the heat exchanger ll may be accomplished either by gravity or by a suitable pump, depending upon whether the juice originates above or below the level of pipe 6 l. The tank 82 is supplied with water and the pump 83 operated to set up a circulation of this water through the heat exchanger II and fill all the spaces in the heat exchanger surrounding the juice tubes 21. It is to be noted that the flow of heating liquid thus set up is indirect counter current to the flow oi the juice.

Heat is supplied to the heating liquid through steam flowing through the pipe 81 which is connected to a boiler or any suitable source of steam. The control device 30 is set so as to keep the valve 88 open whenever the temperature of the juice leaving the heat exchanger II is below a given maximum, and stops the flow of steam whenever this temperature exceeds that maximum In pasteurizing juices generally, it is desired to raise these juices rapidly to a relatively high tem peraturethat is, above F.-and maintain these at this temperature for a relatively short period and then to immediately place this juice in cans. The pasteurizer ID in the commercial size at present in general use will handle 3| gallons of juice per minute and give a temperature rise of 140 F. 'In other words, if the juice enters at 55 F., it is discharged at F. This result is obtainable in the compact space which the heat exchanger ll occupies by virtue of the use of flat tubes 21 for conducting the juice and the division of the shell l5 into correspondingly flattened spaces by the baffle plates 3| and 32. Although accomplishing this unique result, the pasteurizer i0 is relatively inexpensive to build and maintain byvirtue of a number of features thereof including the welding of the juicetubes 21 in a front end plate 26 by which these tubes can be handled as a unit when disassembled as well as in the process of assembling and disassembling. Another such feature is the supporting of the flattened juice tubes 21 by longitudinal fins 30 provided on horizontal baffle plates 3| and 32 which, though not connected directly with the tubes 21, support these against distortion which might otherwise be caused by internal pressure and at the same time prevent these tubes from sagging where the heat exchanger H is fairly long so as to keep these tubes properly centralized at all times in the heating liquid flowing thereover. The tail ends of the tubes 21 are also very economically connected by the couplings 4|] which fit into the rectangular spaces provided therefor and prevent any substantial escape or circulation of the heating liquid into the spaces between the couplings 40 and the cover 10.

In assembling the heat exchanger II, the clamps iii are relaxed. The tubes 41 are then assembled with the head plate 26 and the coucomplete assembly is then slid into the heat exchanger shell I just like a drawer is slid into a cabinet. The plate 26 is now secured to the flange 22 as by the use of suitable screws (not shown) passing through this plate and into this flange. The covers 50 and are now swung into place and snugly clamped respectively against the plate 26 and the tail end of the shell i5..

The clamps I 9 are now tightened up so as to bind the plates I6 inwardly against the baiile plates 3| and 32 and rigidly hold these bafiie plates in position in their proper-assembled relation as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

This mode of assembly of the heat exchanger H not only results insubstantial savings in the production cost of the heat exchanger, but introduces economies in operation and maintenance.

These latter result from the facility and speed with which the heat exchanger ii may be entirely disassembled and reassembled for purposes of inspection and cleaning or repair, if necessary, of all of the internal surfaces of the device.

In the paste'urizing of certain products such as citrus juice, which the heat exchanger of my invention is particularly adapted for accomplishing, it-is necessary at not infrequent intervals to have access to the interior surfaces of .the tubes conducting the juice for the purpose of cleaning these. It is of considerable importance in. this type of equipment therefore, that such access be possible without entirely dismantling I the heat exchanger.

It can be readily seen from the foregoing description of the ,structure and operation of my of the plane in which said tubular means lies;

baflie plates disposed between adjacent runs of said tubular means to provide a heating liquid passageway substantially co-extensive with and invention that it is especially adapted to provide ing the eye-bolts 5i and II along one side of the device and swinging these covers away from in front of the exchanger as shown in Fig. '7, unscrewing the jack screws 46, swinging the bars 48 and removing the coupling caps 42 as shown in Fig. 8. Both ends of the tubes 21 are now exposed to be worked upon so that the interior following the routeof said conduit; and longitudinal fins provided on said baille plates for supporting said tubular means against distortion owing to internal pressure and thereby maintaining said tubular means in flat condition.

2. A combination as in claim 1 in which said shel1 has a head-cover and a plate, said cover and plate providing connecting means for said tubular means, at the head end of said heat exchanger; and a plurality of coupling means at the tail end of said heat exchanger, each of said coupling means connecting an adjacent pair of tubes embodied in said tubular means and being slidably disposed in a passageway between a pair of said baiiie plates. toaccommodate expansionof said tubes due to changes in temperature in .the operation of the heat exchanger.

3. In a heat .exchanger, the combination. of: a shell having parallel side walls; a series of parallel baiile plates disposed between said side walls and dividing the space inside said shell to form a series of passages connected, in series at their opposite ends to provide acontinuous passageway through said exchanger for heating liquid; a plate for covering the head end of said shell, said plate cooperating with alternate baille plates to close and connect the adiacent ends of the aforesaid passages in pairs; flattened tubes, .one of which lies in each of the passages of the aforesaid series; means associated with said head plate for connecting adjacent ends of said tubes in pairspa cover for the tail end of said shell, the balance of said baiile plates extending farther toward said cover 'than those bafile plates engag-' ing said head plate; coupling means for coupling in pairs the ends of said tubes which lie adjacent to the tail end of said shell, thereby completing a connectionof said tubes to form a single continu'-' 'ous conduit for conveying a liquid to be heated through said heat exchanger; and means provided on said baille plates for engaging the flattened faces of said tubes to maintain these tubes in flattened condition against the tendency of internal pressure of said tubes to expand the same.

4. A combination as in claim 3 in which the means for maintaining said tubes in flattened condition comprises longitudinal fins provided on said bafiie plates, said fins engaging opposite flattened faces of said tubes.

5. In a heat exchanger, the combination of a shell having parallel side walls; a series of parallel baflle plates disposed between said side walls and dividing the space inside said shell to form a of the tubes can be cleaned as by extending a swab entirely through these tubes individually.

The cleaning process finished, the re-application of the caps 42 and the closing and fastening series of passages connected in pairs at their opposite ends to provide a continuous passageway suitable for conducting heating fluid through said heat exchanger; a plate for covering the front end of said shell, said plate cooperating with alternate baffle plates to close and connect adjacent ends of the aforesaid passages in pairs; a

series of flattened tubes, one of which lies in each of the passages aforesaid; means associated with said plate for connecting adjacent ends of saidtubes in pairs; means on said bailie plates for engaging opposite faces of said tubes and preventing the distortion of the latter due to internal pressure and thus maintaining said tubes in flattened condition; a cover for therear end of said. shell, the balance of said bafile plates extending farther towards said cover than those-baflie plates engaging said front end plate; and a plurality of individual coupling means for coupling in pairs the ends of said tubes which lie adjacent to the rear end 01' said shell, thereby completing a connection of said tubes to form a single continuous conduit suitable for conveying a liquid to be heated through said heat exchanger, each of said coupling means being disposed between an adjacent pair of said balance of said baiile plates and permitting access to the tubes connected thereby.

6. In a heat exchanger, the combination of; a shell having parallel side walls; a series of parallel baflle plates disposed between said side walls and dividing the space inside said shell to form a series of passages connected in pairs at their opposite ends to provide a continuous passageway suitable for conducting heating fluid through said heat exchanger; 9. plate for covering the front end of said shell, said plate cooperating with alternate baille plates to close and connect adjacent ends of the aforesaid passages in pairs; a series of tubes, one of which lies in each of the passages aforesaid; means associated with said plate for connecting adjacent ends of said tubes in pairs; longitudinal fins on said baille plates for engaging opposite faces of said tubes and preventing the distortion of the latter due to internal pressure tending to expand said tubes outwardly in the plate of said fins; a cover for the rear end of said shell, the balance of saidbaille plates extending farther towards said cover than those baille plates engaging said frontend plate; and a plurality of individual coupling means for coupling in pairs the ends of said tubes which lie adjacent to the rear end of said shell, thereby completing a connection of said tubes to form a single continuous conduit suitable for conveying a liquid to be heated through said heat exchanger, each of said coupling means being disposed between an adjacent pair of said balance of said baille plates and permitting access to the tubes connected thereby.

7. A heat exchanger comprising: side walls, top and bottom walls and front and rear end walls forming a rectangular chamber; spaced rloors within said chamber forming a vertical series of superimposed horizontal passages, alternate floors terminating short of said end walls to connect pairs of adjacent passages at their front or rear ends to produce a continuous passageway; tubes disposed in said passages; means associated with said front end wall for forming a separate closed connection between the adjacent front ends of each group of said tubes disposed in one of the pairs of said passages which are connected together at their front ends as aforesaid; a series of couplings each of which lies within one of the spaces formed by joining adjacent rear ends of two passages as aforesaid, each coupling forming a closed connection between the tubes aforesaid disposed in said two passages; demountable cap means embodied in said couplings by which access may be readily had to the rear ends of the tubes connected thereby; and means for mounting said rear wall on said side, top and bottom walls to form a tight enclosure for the rear end of said chamber but permitting said rear end wall to be readily removed and giving access to said couplings.

8. -A heat exchanger comprising: side walls, top and bottom walls and front and rear end walls forming a rectangular chamber; spaced floors within said chamber forming a vertical series of superimposed horizontal passages, alternate floors terminating short of said end walls to connect pairs of adjacent passages at their front or rear ends to produce a continuous passageway; tubes disposed in said passages; means embodied with said front end wall for forming a separate closed connection between the adjacent front ends of each group of said tubes disposed in one of the pairs of said passages which are connected together at their front ends as aforesaid. said means including a door embodied in" said front end wall which is mounted upon said heat exchanger to be readily removable to give access to the front ends of all of said tubes; a series of couplings each of which lies within one of the spaces formed by joining adjacent rear ends of two passages as aforesaid, each coupling forming a closed connection between the tubes aforesaid disposed in said two passages; demountable cap means embodied in said couplings by which access may be readily had to the rear ends of the tubes'connected thereby; and means for mounting said rear wall on said side, top and bottom walls to form a tight enclosure for the rear end of said chamber but permitting said rear end wall to be readily removed and giving access to said couplings.

9. YA heat exchanger comprising: side walls. top and bottom walls and front and rear end walls forming a rectangular chamber; spaced floors within said chamber forming a vertical series of superimposed horizontal passages, alternate floors terminating short of said end walls to connect pairs of adjacent passages at their front or rear ends to produce a continuous passageway; tubes disposed in said passages; means associated with said front end wall for forming a separate closed connection between the adjacent front ends of each group of said tubes disposed ln one of the pairs of said passages which are connected together at their front ends as aforesaid; a series of plates disposed just within said rear end wall, each plate lying within a space formed by joining adjacent rear ends of two passages as aforesaid and being slidably disposed in said space, rear ends of the tubes disposed in said two passages being joined by said plate and opening rearwardly through said plate; a series of caps one for each of said plates, each cap covering the rearward openings from said tubes; individually operable means for readily applying or removing each of said caps from its position aforesaid; and means for removably mounting said rear wall on said heat exchanger to permit access to be readily had to said caps and by removal of the latter, to the interior of said tubes.

10. A heat exchanger comprising: side walls, top and bottom walls and front and rear end walls forming a rectangular chamber; spaced floors within said chamber forming a vertical series of superimposed horizontal passages, al ternate floors terminating short of said end walls to connect pairs of adjacent passages at their front or rear ends to produce a continuous passageway; tubes disposed in said passages; plate means embodied with said front end wall for joining the front ends of said tubes, the latter opening forwardly through said plate means; a cover also embodied in said front wall which when closed unites with said plate means to form recesses providing a separate closed connection between the adjacent front ends of each group of said tubes disposed in one of the pairs of said passageways which are connected together at their front ends as aforesaid; means for removably mounting said cover on said heat exchanger to permit said cover to be readily applied to function as aforesaid, or removed to permit access to be had to the iront ends. of said tubes; a series oi plates disposed just within said rear end wall, each plate lying within a space formed 1 by joining adjacent rear ends of two passages as aforesaid and being slidably disposed in said space, rear ends at the tubes disposed in said two passages being joined by said plate and opening 10 rearwardly through said plate; a series oi caps one for each of said plates, each cap covering the rearward openings irom said tubes: individually operable means for readily applying or removing each of said caps from its position aforesaid; and means for removably mounting said rear wall on said heat exchanger to permit access to be readily had to said caps and by removal oi the latter, to the interior 01' said tubes. I

- CHARLES E. 

